Summer Daze
by Samantha-Girl Scout
Summary: It's officially summer for the Miraculous crew! Come join our quartet of friends as they go on adventures around Paris!
1. Vacation

Chapter 1: Vacation

* * *

Today was the last day of classes, and Marinette was dreading it.

Normally, she would be looking forward to the end of the school year. To all of the fun activities that she would be able to participate in, the wonderful treats that her parents only made during the summer tourist months, and lazy days spent doing absolutely nothing. But, this year was different. This year Marinette had a crush on the one and only Adrien Agreste and, when classes ended, she would not be able to see him again for some time. 58 days of hoping to run into him somewhere amongst the streets of Paris.

It wasn't like she was counting or anything.

With a huff, Marinette glared at the trap door above her bed before pulling the blanket back over her head in an attempt to put off the inevitable. Maybe if she didn't get out of bed, then she wouldn't have to face the reality of the last day of classes?

"Marinette!" Tikki called from the other side of the blanket. "If you don't get up soon you'll be late for your last day of classes."

"I don't wanna go," she mumbled as she buried her face into the crevice between her cat stuffed animal and pillow.

"But you have to Marinette! Mrs. Bustier said yesterday that you have to turn in your tablet. And, besides, isn't it supposed to be a day full of fun activities? You wouldn't want to miss out on those." The aspiring fashion designer groaned loudly as she burrowed further into her bed and ignored the small tugs that she felt on her blanket.

"But, if I go, then summer vacation starts! And when summer vacation starts I won't get to see Adrien!"

"Who said that you wouldn't be able to see him? All you have to do is make plans to see him sometime this summer!"

"But, Tikki," Marinette whined as she sat up and gave the kwami an exasperated look. "I can't even get a full sentence out when I'm around him! How am I supposed to do something like making plans with him?"

"I'm sure that Alya wouldn't mind helping you," Tikki gave her a wink. "C'mon, just give today a chance! Your phone says that it's supposed to be sunny with a high of 23.8 degrees!" The teen let out a groan before throwing her covers off and getting out of bed.

"You'd better be right, Tikki," she muttered as she sent a quick text to her best friend about her plans. She then slowly descended her stairs to get ready for the day hoping beyond hope that her day would be as wonderful as Tikki imagined.

* * *

Tikki had, in fact, been horribly wrong.

Before school could even start, Marinette had waited on the steps, alone, for him to arrive. Alya, after she had heard of Marinette's plan, had insisted that she try to approach him before class since it would be unlikely that they would have much time during class. She had also insisted that she should do so alone. Marinette had agreed and waited for him while nervously messing with her phone.

When his limo had finally arrived, Marinette had immediately stood up and, in the process, had ended up dropping her phone. She had watched in horror as the fragile device fell down every single step below her before skidding across the pavement where it stopped only a meter away from her target. All she could do was watch as he bent down to pick up the device and look around for its owner. Marinette had been so flustered by the whole situation that she had mutely taken the phone from him before quickly walking to her class. Alya was quick to follow and tell her that she should turn around, but she couldn't imagine herself being able to face him after embarrassing herself in such a way.

"Girl, it's okay. You'll have another chance to set something up. I'm sure of it."

"Why is everyone so sure that I'll be able to do something like this?" The blue-haired teen had muttered to herself as she stalked towards her seat where she proceeded to sit and put her head down. She could feel Tikki moving in her purse, more than likely wanting to show her sympathy, but Marinette was going to have absolutely none of that. With a little bit more force than was strictly necessary, she took her purse off and threw it on the ground beside her backpack. She winced and picked it up, instantly feeling remorseful for taking her inner anger out on the poor kwami in her purse.

"Did you share your plan with someone else?" Alya asked curiously, "I thought that you had only shared it with me." The other teen felt herself stiffen at her own mistake.

"N-no!" She laughed nervously to herself without offering any explanation while covertly opening the clutch in order to check on her small friend inside. With a quick assessment she was able to ascertain that Tikki, though a little shaken, was okay. She sighed in relief before setting her purse down with much more care this time.

"Then what on Earth did you mean by that, girl?" Marinette looked up to see her friend's critical glance before sitting down with a sigh.

"I don't know," she leaned her head dismally onto her hand. "My mom just said something similar this morning about something else, and I guess I'm just feeling a lot of pressure over it." Alya's gaze softened dramatically as she sat down beside her.

"Don't sweat it too much. All you have to do is bring it up casually and then-" Alya was cut off by a loud explosion down the street. Her eyes grew wide as she, and many of the other students, ran to the windows to see what was going on outside. Marinette didn't need to look to know that there was an akuma running amok somewhere outside. With an annoyed sigh to herself she grabbed her purse and made to dash out the door.

"Can't Hawk Moth take just _one day_ off?" She groaned to herself as she blindly rounded the corner and immediately ran into someone, knocking them to the ground. Blinking in surprise, she looked up to find an equally stunned Adrien. Her face immediately flushed. All she wanted to do was crawl into a corner. But, then there was another crash from outside, and she knew that there was no more time to waste.

"Sorry!" She cried in apology as he stood in a rush. "There's an akuma attack!" She said quickly before darting back towards her destination. She felt horrible for leaving him sitting on the ground, but her need to take care of the akuma overrode it.  
As she called out for her transformation she hoped that maybe, _just_ _maybe_ , if she and Chat could take care of the problem quickly, then she could return to class. Maybe then she would be able to get up the nerve to talk to Adrien about making summer plans. She sent up many prayers to any and every deity that she could think of that the fight would go smoothly.

* * *

As the "symbol of good luck" she certainly had really rotten luck today.

Not only had the akuma taken an inordinately long time to defeat, the weather itself decided that it was going to be in a sour mood as well. Instead of the warm and sunny weather that had been predicted, a large rainstorm decided to move in and dowse the whole of the city in its wake.

Feeling drenched and defeated, Marinette could barely give her partner their customary fist bump before she was glancing at her compact in search for the time. He looked on in concern as his partner let out an annoyed groan.

There were only three minutes of school left.

"But, maybe I can still catch him," she said under her breath as she closed her yo-yo and looked up at Chat Noir. He tried to get a word out, but she quickly cut him off "I need to go," she said as a small amount of hope returned to her.

"But-" She didn't wait for to hear his question. Instead, she shot off as fast as she could towards the school. She could just barely make out the shape in the distance through the rain. If she could just _hurry_ , then she could follow through with her plan. Maybe if she-

Marinette felt her heart drop as the muted school bell rang out.

She was about to stop in defeat, but maybe the universe would give her just a little luck today and he would be lagging behind. Without, caring too much about the weather, Marinette dropped into an alley one block away from the school before exiting and running against the strong current of her peers.

She was completely out of breath and damp by the time that she made it to the school. She burst through the front doors and made her way towards her classroom, keeping her eyes peeled for a very specific mop of blonde hair. He _had_ to still be here. After the initial scuffle, the akuma fight had moved far enough from the school that most classes would have resumed. But, as she entered the room, it became apparent that everyone had already left.

Even Alya.

"Tikki?" Marinette asked quietly as she opened the purse to gaze at her small friend with tear-filled eyes "Why can't I just have one good day?"

"Oh, Marinette," the kwami said as she flew from the purse to soothe her young charge. "I'm sure that there will be an opportunity to see him _sometime_ this summer."

"But, we barely talk outside of school!" The distraught girl pointed out as she rubbed the back of her hand against her eyes. "There's _no way_ that I would even be able to contact him. Though he probably wouldn't even want to..." She sniffed as she made her way towards her seat to look for her school bag. She frowned as she noticed that it was missing.

She was about to panic when she felt a vibration come from her phone. She immediately opened it and found a text from Alya waiting for her.

 **Alya: I'm holding your bag hostage until you call me**

After a few short moments, she replied.

 **Marinette: thanks**

 **Marinette: I'll call you when I get home**

 **Alya: how about I just meet you at your house?**

 **Marinette: sure. see you soon**

Marinette sighed and put the phone away. She was grateful that Alya had taken care of her things yet again. She hated how often she had to rely on her for things such as this… especially when she couldn't fully express it. With a sigh, the teenager made her way out of the building with the intention of making her way home.

Marinette stopped just short of the edge of the awning when she was reminded of the rain. She groaned to herself as she noticed that the rain was coming down harder than it had before. She was really dreading the walk home. She didn't necessarily hate getting wet, but, with how heavily it was coming down, the superheroine truly doubted that her phone would survive. Maybe if she waited long enough it would let up…

"You really need to start bringing your own umbrella to school," a teasing voice said from behind Marinette. The girl let out a surprised screech before she turned around to identify who had spoken to her.

"A-Adrien!" She called out much louder than she meant to. "W-What are you still doing in school? I thought that you... ah... went on home?" She could have sworn that she had not seen him leave the school building as she had approached it. Where on Earth could he have come from?

"Nah," Adrien said as he scratched the back of his head with his free hand. "I had some business that I had to take care of after everyone left. What about you?"

"I... I was actually hoping that the rain would stop so that I wouldn't have to get really wet," she said sheepishly. "I always meant to buy one of my own you know... an umbrella I mean, but I never ended up buying one."

"What happened to the one that I leant you at the beginning of the year?" Marinette felt her heart sink as the memory came back to her followed by an image of said umbrella resting in the umbrella rack by her front door.

"Oh my gosh!" She said in a panic as she brought a hand up to her mouth. "I can't- I can't _believe_ that I never gave it back to you! It's in my umbrella rack at home in perfect condition. Look I swear, _I swear_ that I'll give it back to you sometime soon. In fact, I'll run home right now and-"

Adrien let out a loud laugh as he brought his hands up in a placating manner.

"It's okay, Marinette." A smile spread over his face as he turned to face her more fully. "I was just teasing you. You don't have to go home and get it." The girl let out a nervous laugh as a wave of relief washed over her. She was grateful that he wouldn't make her walk home in the rain to get the umbrella. At that moment, Adrien's limo pulled up to the curb and came to a stop directly in front of where they were standing. A flit of sadness went across his face before it brightened up again as an idea came to him.

"Look, how about I give you a ride home? That way you don't have to get wet _and_ I don't lose another umbrella." He said the last statement with a wink and Marinette thought that her heart would explode at the gesture. Unable to trust herself to respond coherently, she nodded to him and watched as he opened the umbrella and held it over the both of them. They then stepped out from the cover together towards the waiting vehicle. Marinette didn't dare get too close to him underneath the umbrella, but she found that she was still able to stay rather dry due to how large it was. As they approached the limo, Adrien reached forward and opened the door for her.

"After you, m'lady," he said courteously, allowing her to take shelter from the rain first. She immediately slid over to the other seat and watched as he quickly entered the vehicle before maneuvering the umbrella in a way that kept his self from getting too wet from the constant downpour. He then turned his attention to his chauffeur.

"I offered to give Marinette a ride home. It's really close to Tom and Sabine's Boulangerie Patisserie. Do you know how to get there?" The chauffeur looked in his rearview mirror at the said girl for a moment, his calculating gaze giving Marinette the heeby-jeebies, before nodding and pulling away from the curb in the direction of her home.

"Don't mind him," Adrien said off-handedly as he relaxed into his seat. "He might look scary, but it's just because he doesn't talk a whole lot." Marinette nodded nervously as she turned her attention away from the imposing man's gaze to look at the boy sitting beside her. "So," he began as he situated his satchel to sit on the seat between them, "Today was kind of crazy wasn't it?"

"Uh... yeah. Crazy," Marinette said with a nervous laugh. "Who knew that we'd- I mean the school would get an akuma attack today of all days."

"Yeah..." He said with a frown. "I'd hoped that we'd go without one today so that I'd be able to do all of the fun activities today, but I guess it was just a case of bad luck, huh?" She nodded and with a small defeated sigh.

"I guess I'm not all that surprised," she said quietly as she turned to look out the window.

"Why's that?"

"Well... I always seem to have the worst of luck," she shrugged as she spared him a glance. Flashes of the past year went through her mind.

"I know how that goes," Adrien said as he smiled ironically to himself.

"How?" Marinette asked as she turned to look at him in disbelief. "It always seems like you have the best of luck!" He laughed bitterly as he turned away to look out at the rain himself.

"I guess it would appear like that," he said quietly to himself before becoming lost within his own thoughts. A heavy silence fell between them. Marinette bit her lip as she tried to come up with something to lighten the mood. She glanced outside and noticed that they were quickly approaching the bakery.

"W-what are you doing this summer?" Her sudden voice and topic change caught Adrien off-guard and he turned to look at her curiously. She felt a small amount of relief fill her as the atmosphere seemed to lighten as his cloudy eyes cleared to attention.

"I'll probably continue with the extra lessons that I usually take and I think my father has scheduled a few photoshoots. Nino mentioned maybe going to a concert or something, too. Other than that I don't really have any plans. How about you?"

"I usually help mom and dad out at the bakery every once in a while. A-Alya mentioned that she had some ideas for some fun things to do this summer, b-but she hasn't really told me what they are yet."

"That sounds like fun," Adrien smiled warmly at her as the car came to a stop. Marinette's eyes widened as she realized that they had finally arrived at her parent's shop. She frowned as she felt some of her earlier dismay returning.

"Yeah…" she said quietly as Adrien made to open his door. She watched as he opened the umbrella before stepping out onto the curb. He turned with his unoccupied hand outstretched towards the open door. She hesitated as he looked at her expectantly. She clambered to exit and knew that, had he not assisted her out of the car, that she would have, most certainly, fallen down.

"T-thanks," she said sheepishly as she righted herself. She wanted him to continue to hold her hand, but knew that she would have probably died if she held on for too long. She found that, as his hand left hers to shut the door, she missed the warmth. "A-and thank you for the ride."

"It's not a problem." He smiled kindly as he walked her to the bakery's doorstep "Believe it or not, this is actually on the way to my house." He stopped walking once they were under the awning of the shop. An awkward silence fell between them as they just stood there before he spoke again. "Well, I suppose that I'll see you when school starts?"

Marinette realized, as she stood there, that this was her chance. That, if she really wanted to see him again sometime this summer, she _needed_ to say something now. She knew, without a doubt, that she would regret it if she didn't, but her mouth was stubborn and wouldn't work correctly. She opened her mouth once, then twice, but no words seemed to come out. Adrien seemed slightly confused by her unusual display, but he waited patiently for her to respond.

"Come!" was finally what came out of her mouth in a rush. She cleared her throat before starting her invitation again. "You come- I mean you and Nino would be w-welcome to hang out with us this summer if you wanted to. We-we don't have anything concrete planned yet, b-but more the merrier, right?"

The look of pure delight on Adrien's face took Marinette's breath away.

"Really? I would _love_ to!" He froze at his own loud declaration before laughing sheepishly and scratching the back of his head. "I-I mean that sounds like a lot of fun."

"Great! H-How should we let you know when we're hanging out?"

"Texting is probably the best way to get a hold of me. Here," at this he reached into his pocket and pulled out his phone. Using some care he unlocked it and tapped it a few times with the hand holding the umbrella before holding it out to Marinette. On the screen was an empty contact field. Gingerly, she took it from him and put her number into his phone. She then handed it back to him and he saved it before putting it back into his pocket. "I'll text you once my hands are free so that you can have my number, too, how does that sound?"

"S-Sounds great."

 _Beep. Beeep._

The pair turned to see the chauffeur gesturing to the backseat. The blonde sighed to himself before turning back to his friend a reluctant look. "Sorry, it looks like I have to get going now, but I'm looking forward to hanging out this summer!"

"M-me, too! Thanks again for the ride."

"You're welcome. Bye!" And with that Adrien Agreste hurried back to his car. It took him a moment to finagle the umbrella again, but, once it and he were in the car, he turned to Marinette and waved before shutting the door.

"Bye," Marinette said softly and waved as the car quickly pulled away from the curb. She stood there watching after the car long past the moment that it disappeared down the street, utterly shell-shocked. After a few minutes had gone by, she entered the shop in a daze. She barely said two words to her parents before going upstairs to her room. Both expressed their concern, but she paid them no mind as she trekked upstairs.  
As soon as she was in her room she felt her phone vibrate.

Marinette immediately fumbled for the phone and almost dropped it for the second time that day, but, miraculously, she was able to keep it from falling to certain doom. It took her nearly four tries to unlock it before she finally opened it to reveal that she had a new message from an unknown number.

 **Unknown: Hey Marinette, this is Adrien! Just text me whenever! Hope you have an awesome rest of your day! ^.^**

Marinette froze as she stared down at her phone. She blinked a few times before she reached to her forearm and pinched it. Hard.

"Ow!" She yelped as Tikki zipped up to her face in concern.

"Marinette, are you okay?" Marinette looked from the mark on her arm, to her phone, to Tikki, and then back to the message on her screen. Tikki's eyes focused on the message for a moment before she let out an excited squeal.

"You did it, Marinette! I knew you could!" The superheroine was about to respond when all of a sudden there was a knock on her trap door. She let out a surprised squeak as Tikki immediately flew to the closest hiding place that she could find before the door opened to reveal her best friend carrying her bag.

"Alright, I've got your bag. Now it's time for us to strategize!" Her friend shut the door behind her before turning to find a still dazed Marinette standing there with her phone in her hand. The redhead furrowed her brow in concern as she carefully approached her friend. "Marinette, is everything alright?"

The frozen girl opened her mouth to explain, but she found that no words would come out. She gaped there for a few moments, continuing to attempt, but soon she realized that she would be unable to explain for quite some time. Instead, of attempting any more she robotically unlocked her phone again before handing it to Alya. The blogger immediately took the device, carelessly dropping her friend's bag in order to accept the phone, and read the message before emitting an excited squeal.

"How did this _happen?!_ Girl, you absolutely _have_ to tell me how it happened!"

"I-I don't know!" Marinette stammered back as she tried to recover from her shock. It took her a while, but eventually she was able to recount the event to her best friend who was absolutely buzzing with excitement. Once her recounting was finished, Alya leapt forward to engulf the other girl in a tight hug.

"I'm so proud of you! Now you can not only hang out with him some this summer, but you can also _text_ him whenever you want!" Marinette tilted her head in confusion before Alya pushed the phone back to her and pointed excited at the message.

"He says to 'text him whenever.' If that isn't an invitation to get into random conversations with the guy, then I don't know what is!" Marinette gaped at the phone in realization and immediately found herself sitting on the floor.

"I think this is the best day of my life," she murmured as she stared in awe.

"You absolutely _have_ to text him back now!" Marinette's eyes flew up to her best friend in panic and she immediately shook her head.

"Are you crazy?! I couldn't possibly do that! "

"If you don't, he might think that you didn't get it. You don't want him worrying about his text or thinking you're rude, right?"

Alya had a point. It would be rude to leave him hanging, and what if he sent another? What excuse would she have then? She reached up to pull at her hair in distress.

"W-w-what do I say?!"

"Just say 'you too' for now. Then, after we plan our first hang out date, you text him the details. I'll handle inviting Nino." A mischievous glint entered her hazel eyes as she continued. "Also, I think I heard that Nino was looking for a summer job so he might be pretty busy. So, I think I'll let _you_ take care of all the Adrien communication this summer."

"What?!" Marinette shrieked so loudly that it was a wonder that her parents - and their neighbors for that matter - didn't rush upstairs to check on the girls. Alya's hands flew to her ears in an attempt to salvage some of her hearing, but it did nothing to wipe the smirk from her face.

"You get to make sure that Adrien knows about all of our plans this summer! You _were_ the one to invite him along, remember?" The other girl groaned.

"Fine," she mumbled as she opened the text message. She made a point to both lock the message into her phone as well as save his number and assign one of the many pictures that she had of him modeling in an attempt to stall. She stared at the phone for a few moments before Alya cleared her throat. With a shaky sigh, Marinette finally typed out a message before passing it to her best friend for her approval. Alya looked at it for a moment before typing something out and handed it back to Marinette with a wink.

 **Marinette: You too!**

 **Marinette: BTW you can text me whenever you want too! :D**

Marinette let out an indignant gasp as she realized that the messages had already been sent. She sputtered at her friend in disbelief. She knew that Alya liked to help play match maker, but this was too much! She had only wanted to send a simple reply. What if he thought that was too forward? What if-

Her phone buzzed.

 **Adrien: Cool! I'll probably take you up on that offer every once in a while. Things get kind of boring around the house.**

 **Adrien: What are you up to?**

"I believe that my work here is done," Alya said confidently as she made her way to Marinette's trap door. "My mom said something about going out to eat for supper tonight so I'll be on my way. Just call or text if you need me! I'll stop by tomorrow sometime so we can make all sorts of plans this summer." Marinette stood and tried to catch up to her friend, but she was too slow and the door to the rest of the house was slamming shut before she could stop her.

"I can't believe her. She abandoned me!" Marinette huffed as Tikki left her hiding spot. "I thought she was going to help me with this! I don't know how to have a conversation with Adrien!" The small god laughed at her charge's plight, which earned her a pointed glare. The small kwami chose to ignore it as she approached her.

"Oh, Marinette, she just doesn't want to get in the way of you two talking!"

"But, what do I talk to him about?!" Tikki gave her an exasperated look before glancing at his message.

"Well, you could answer his question and ask him what he's up to. Maybe you could focus on getting to know him, and then you can go from there." Marinette took a deep breath before nodding.

"Okay. I'll do that." She stared down at the phone for a few minutes in an attempt to come up with something. She wasn't really up to anything in particular. She looked at her discarded bag for a moment before it gave her an idea. She sent two disproportionately short texts after her long span of silence.

 **Marinette: Putting away my school stuff. Alya stopped by to drop my bag off a little while ago.**

 **Marinette: How about you?**

Marinette picked up her bag and made good on her supposed actions by putting away the few items that she had taken to school. It did not take her long to finish and she found that she was slightly disappointed when he didn't respond as quickly as he had before. She pulled out her sketchbook and attempted to brainstorm new ideas, but, instead of getting engrossed in it, she found herself compulsively checking her phone.

"A watched pot never boils," Tikki teased from where she had settled herself on Marinette's desk. The girl in question darted her eyes from her unresponsive phone to shoot her friend a glare. The red kwami giggled to herself and paid the look no mind as she went back to eating one of the many cookies that Marinette left for her around the room.

After quite a while without a response, Marinette forced herself to focus on creating a few new summer pieces for herself. About two years ago, she had begun working on her craft in earnest. One of the best ways that she found to practice was pushing herself to create new pieces for each season. The amount ranged in accordance to the time that she had to spare. But she always shot for at least two new items a season.

Currently, she was working on sketching different ideas for a new skirt. She had the overall idea in her head already, but she couldn't make up her mind on what color or pattern it should be. She was sketching different colors over the outline when she was startled out of her creative process by her phone going off. This caused her to press a bit too hard on her colored pencil and send a wayward line through her sketch. She cursed to herself as she dropped the pencil in favor of picking up the device in frustration.

Her annoyance drained immediately, though, when she saw that she had received a new text message from Adrien.

 **Adrien: Sorry for the late reply!**

 **Adrien: I didn't hear my phone go off. ^^;**

 **Adrien: I'm playing the new DLC for Ultimate Mecha Strike III right now.**

Marinette frowned as she looked up her calendar. She had been planning to buy the new content as soon as it came out. Which, as she had noted in her calendar, was supposed to be next week. She furrowed her brow in confusion as she sent a couple more texts.

 **Marinette: That's okay.**

 **Marinette: Doesn't that come out next week tho?**

His response was immediate this time.

 **Adrien: Nope! It came out last week.**

Marinette glanced away from their conversation to look up the date on the official website on her computer and groaned to herself when she found that he was indeed correct. That meant that she had been waiting in anticipation for no reason! She sighed to herself as she leaned back in her chair.

 **Marinette: I could have sworn it was next week…**

 **Marinette: Guess that means I get to play it sooner than I thought.**

"I can't believe that I mixed up the dates," Marinette muttered to herself as she took note of the price for the new DLC. She didn't quite have all of the money for it, but if she talked to her papa at supper she could probably ask him to buy it for her and allow her to pay him back once she had enough money.

"What dates?" Tikki asked as she floated up to look at the computer.

"Oh, you know how I was planning to buy new DLC for Ultimate Mecha Force III? Well Adrien just told me it already came out!" Marinette put her head in her unoccupied hand. Tikki giggled at her charge. There was a moment where it looked as though Marinette was going to say something more, but she was interrupted by her phone going off. She immediately scrambled for it causing her kwami to work hard on not letting out a loud laugh.

 **Adrien: You should totally let me know when you get it! They added an online multiplayer and it'd be cool to play with you again!**

Marinette flushed immediately as she reread the message over and over again. Not only had he given her a concrete idea of when to text him back again, he had also said that he wanted to play video games with her again! She smiled giddily as she leaned back to spin in her chair. This conversation was going so well!

The sound of her mother calling "Marinette!" loudly from below forced her to stop spinning. With a glance at the clock it became apparent that it was about dinner time. With a sad heart, she pushed her chair over to the trap door and saw her mother smiling kindly at the bottom of the stairs.

"It's time for dinner, honey. How does going out to celebrate surviving one more year of school? We could go to your favorite Italian place." The teenager's face brightened at the idea.

"That sounds like an awesome idea! I'll be down in a little bit."

"Okay, sounds good! I'll help your father close up the shop and we'll meet you at the back door." Marinette smiled as she set the door down. As she stood she caught sight of her phone and frowned. She was enjoying her conversation with Adrien so much and didn't want to stop talking to him, but she also knew that her parents would appreciate it if she didn't text during dinner. Especially if they were eating out as a family.

 **Marinette: I'll make sure to let you know!**

 **Marinette: But I have to go. Mom and Dad want to go out to eat. I'll ttyl!**

She locked her phone and picked up her purse. She dropped the phone in and reached for a small pile of cookies before turning to look for her small friend. "Ready?"

"Always!" Tikki chirped with a smile as she flew into the small bag. She was about to close it, but her phone went off two times in the span of a few moments. She hesitated for a moment, but she could not resist seeing what Adrien's response had been.

 **Adrien: Awww… Don't go!**

 **Adrien: JK Hope you have fun. Talk to you later!**

Marinette could swear that her heart skipped a few too many beats after reading his messages.

Adrien had seemed like he didn't want to stop talking to her! She brought her phone to her chest with a squeal and would have spun around the room shrieking in joy if her mother didn't yell up the stairs asking about whether she was coming or not. She called back that she was coming and was about to put her phone away when she met the mischievous eyes of her kwami. Her face immediately flushed in embarrassment and she chose to close her purse without another word.

She'd allow herself to fully celebrate later tonight.

* * *

A/N: Thank you so much for reading! This is the first of many chapters that will explore some of the adventures that this group of friends will be going on this summer. I'm hoping (to the best of my ability) that these chapters will come out on the dates that they are set on. I've charted out a schedule, but be warned that life happens so things may lag behind a little bit or plans may be changed.

That being said, this is somewhat of an experiment. Everything will occur during the summer, but not every chapter will occur during this particular summer... You'll see what I mean when we get there, just know that everything _is_ connected in some fashion so I ask for just a little bit of faith, okay? Though, if something is weird, or if you have questions, then please go ahead and ask! You'll be able to find me here, on AO3 and Tumblr going by the same username

Again, thank you so much for taking the time to read and please let me know what you think!

 **Blanket Disclaimer: I own nothing beyond my own ideas.**


	2. Friends

Chapter 2: Friends

* * *

 **Alya : okay girl! you got this. just text him and ask if he's busy today.**

 **Marinette : ok  
** **Marinette : omg  
** **Marinette : i can't do this Alya!**

 **Alya : yes you can!  
** **Alya : look I'll make it easy for you. just copy my next message and send it to him.  
** **Alya : Hey! Alya found out that there's a new arcade open and she thought we could all go sometime today. What do you think?**

 **Marinette : ok  
** **Marinette: i think i can do that  
** **Marinette : thanks**

"You can do it Marinette!" Tikki said encouragingly as she buzzed excitedly beside Marinette's face. "Alya even made it super easy for you!"

"I know Tikki!" Her charge glanced at the red kwami before melodramatically falling face first into her chaise. "It's just that we haven't talked for a few days now… What if he thought I was annoying?"

"I doubt that that's the case." The kwami floated right before her face before gently patting her on the nose. "Remember he mentioned that he has photoshoots this summer. He's probably just busy with one of those."

"You're probably right," Marinette said as she bit one of her nails. "I just have to copy Alya's message…" She mumbled to herself as she flipped around to lay on her back so that she could view her phone above her head. She went about the process of copying and pasting the text into a new conversation with Adrien. Her fingers hesitated for a long while over the send button.

"Marinette!" The sound of Sabine's voice from below startled the poor indecisive teen into sending the message before the phone flew from her hand successfully hitting her in the face before it fell to the ground with a loud thump. She quickly scrambled to pick up the phone before crawling over to her hatch. She opened it before she poked her head over the edge in search of her mother.

"Yes, Maman?"

"Are you planning on going out today?"

"I think so. I'm just waiting to hear back from the others."

"Others?" Sabine came into view at the bottom of the steps and gave her daughter an amused look, one eyebrow raised delicately. "I thought you were just going to hang out with Alya this summer."

"Well, you see, we had been thinking about inviting Nino and A-Adrien along with us sometimes while hanging out. N-not all of the time of course! But groups can be fun, you know?"

"Oh?" A somewhat mischievous look crossed her mother's face as she considered this news. "Nino is that boy who entered that television competition right?"

"Yeah. He's been in my class a few times over the years, too."

"And Adrien was that nice boy who came by to play video games, correct?" Marinette could only respond with a mute nod. Her mother stood there for a moment before her face broke out into an encouraging smile. "Well that certainly sounds like it could be fun. I'm proud of you girls for including them. Make sure to make plans to hang out here at least once this summer."

"Y-yes, Maman."

It was at this moment that the opening chords of Jagged Stone's latest hit "Remember You" began playing. The shock of the ringtone that she had specifically chose for Adrien's texts made her drop the phone. Thankfully, her mother was able to dart forward and catch the device before it could be damaged irreparably. The woman shook her head as she carefully brought the still-ringing phone to her daughter.

"Please be careful, dear. If you break another phone I don't believe that we will be able to afford to buy you a new one."

"I'll try Maman," Marinette said as she took the phone from Sabine. "I'll let you know what I find out, okay?"

"That's fine, Marinette. Just remember that your father and I need help sometime this weekend with an order."

"I will," Marinette called back distractedly as she closed her trap door. Careful to not drop her phone, she unlocked it and took a moment to savor the feeling of receiving a text from her crush. A little breathless, she opened the message with one shaking finger.

 **Adrien: That sounds like a lot of fun! I don't have much longer at this photoshoot so if you want to give me the address I can just meet you guys there!**

 **Marinette:** **Ok! I'll get it from Alya and then get back to you.**

 **Adrien: Awesome!**

Marinette let out an excited squeal.

"Victory?" Tikki asked as she flew over to Marinette with a wide smile. The teen smiled enthusiastically as she texted her best friend to let her know the good news. She couldn't hold in her excitement as she reached forward to bring her small friend up to her face and began jumping up and down around her room. She only stopped when her phone buzzed in her hand with a new text message from Alya enthusiastically congratulating her along with a separate message with the address. She immediately forwarded it to Adrien.

She resumed jumping until one thought made her stop in her tracks:

"What am I going to wear!?" Immediately Marinette dropped both her kwami and phone as she ran towards her dresser to begin searching for something to wear. Tikki –barely catching herself and Marinette's phone before either were damaged from the fall- laughed at her charge's actions. She gently set the phone down and watched in amusement as Marinette began to throw clothes every which way around the room in an attempt to find the perfect outfit.

The phone buzzed right beside Tikki and began emitting the same opening chords that it had earlier, but, this time, Marinette did not hear it over the sound of her own fretting. The small red kwami shook her head and chose to open the phone herself and read the boy's response.

 **Adrien: Perfect! That's actually pretty close to where I am right now. I should be over there in about 10 minutes. See you soon!**

"Marinette!" Tikki called as she tried to pick up the phone and fly it over to her young friend. "Adrien says that he's going to be there in about ten minutes!" Said girl spun around, eyes wide with panic. She immediately became ensnared in the skirt that she had been trying on and fell to the ground in a half-dressed mess.

"Ten minutes?!" She squeaked in disbelief as she lay frozen on the floor. "I can't get there that fast!"

"Yes you can! Just get dressed quickly and then you can transform!"

"You'd let me do that?" Marinette's eyes softened as Tikki nodded "Thank you so much! I'll make sure to get you two dozen cookies when we get home later!" The teen scrambled up from her position on the floor and took a small breath to calm herself as she evaluated her options. "What do you think I should wear Tikki?"

"Probably something casual," Tikki offered as she evaluated the mess that had been made with the young designer's clothes in such a short amount of time. Marinette nodded to herself as she carefully sifted through the articles around her. After a few moments, she picked up a plain pastel pink shirt and a pair of light patterned jean shorts. She made quick work of changing before she glanced at herself in the mirror. She considered changing her hair, but knew that she was cutting things close already. She grabbed her purse and hastily put her wallet, phone, and kwami in before escaping down her trap door.

"Bye, Maman!" She said as she breezed past her mother. "I probably won't be back until after supper so I'll see you sometime tonight!"

"Alright, just let your father and I know when you plan on being home. Love you!"

"Love you, too!"

And, with that short exchange, Marinette was out the door and transforming into Ladybug in a flash of pink sparkles.

* * *

When Adrien arrived at the arcade he was surprised to find Alya and Nino already waiting for him. From what Marinette had texted him earlier it had seemed as though he would be the first to arrive. A grin broke across his face as Nino spotted him and waved him over.

"Hey, dude!" Nino called from where he and Alya were sitting on a bench outside of their destination. "You sure got here early."

"Yeah! My photoshoot was only five minutes away from here so I just started walking when Marinette texted me about hanging out."

"When did she last text you?" Adrien gave Alya an odd look before checking his phone for the time stamp.

"About five minutes ago. Why?"

"Perfect! It should take her about fifteen minutes to get here from her house. This means we can plot and plan with plenty of time to spare." The conspiratory look on her face sent a shiver down Adrien's spine. He had seen that look on her face every time she talked about Chat Noir and Ladybug. For her to be wearing it now when talking about her best friend was… frightening to say the least. Alya hurriedly scooted over to make room for him on the bench. "Come and sit down!" Adrien eyed his friend warily before finally joining the pair on the bench.

"What's going on?"

"Well," Alya began as she pulled out her phone. "You see, at the end of the school year I finally got Marinette's birthday out of her. _Apparently_ it's August 20th. When I finally found out, I asked her what she wanted to do and she just brushed me off. So, after talking to her mom a bit, I decided that it would be fun to throw her a surprise birthday party." The blonde's eyes widened in surprise before he smiled.

"That sounds like a lot of fun. Did you have any ideas of what you wanted to do?"

"Kind of? When I talked to Sabine she mentioned that if I could get her out of the house, then they, you guys, and anyone else who we want to invite could decorate their living room. Then we and the rest of the guests could hang out, play games, and anything else that's kind of low key. Then, after everyone else leaves, the three of us could stay over if we wanted to."

"All three of us?" Nino asked dubiously. Adrien had to agree with the sentiment. While it sounded like an exciting prospect, he'd never actually stayed over at someone's house before, wouldn't Marinette's parents want to send Nino and him home after a certain time?

"Yep!" Alya smiled broadly. "She said that as long as everyone cleaned up after themselves we could invite as many people as we wanted to the party. Though she said that only three of Marinette's closest friends could stay overnight." She winked at the boys as a broad smile stretched on her face. "She said that she'd leave the planning to us and to just let her know what kind of food we would want. I tried to say that we'd take care of everything, but she said that it'd be a crime if they didn't make Marinette's cake and favorite food. Apparently they always take their vacation around her birthday. They were just about to start planning what they wanted to do so we'd save them from figuring out what they want to do this year.

"It still seems crazy that they'd allow something like that," Nino said in a disbelieving tone. "I mean that sounds like a lot of fun, especially right before classes start again, but not a lot of parents would allow a co-ed slumber party." Nino paused for a moment before shooting Alya a suspicious look. "What's the catch?"

"Nothing really. We clean up after the others leave… And we just can't go anywhere besides the living room while staying over. And they might check in on us on a regular basis."

"That doesn't sound horrible." Adrien opened his mouth to say more, but Alya made an almost imperceptible motion for him to stop talking.

"Just keep that entire day clear and we can talk more details later," she muttered before smiling brightly at something over his shoulder. Adrien turned around and saw Marinette running towards the group. He waved and smiled at her in greeting.

"Oh, you're here already!" Alya called loudly from where she, Nino, and Adrien were situated. "We thought you'd take a lot longer to get here!"

"I caught a good break in the traffic," Marinette huffed out as the other three stood to greet her. "How did all of you get here so _fast_?" She leaned on her knees in an attempt to catch her breath.

"We were all in the area already," Nino said with a laugh. That statement caught the designer's attention. Marinette eyed her best friend suspiciously. She was about to open her mouth and call the blogger out on the secrecy when said girl spoke overtop her while standing and striding toward her purposefully.

" _Anyways_ , let's go! I hear that there are all sorts of games here!" And, with that, Alya pulled Marinette towards the entrance without allowing her and Adrien to exchange pleasantries.

"What's going on?" The blue-black haired girl asked suspiciously as she attempted to disentangle herself from the other girl. Her best friend ignored her efforts and instead brought her through the two double doors and situated the two of them at the end of the line.

"Alya's been acting like that since we sat down," Nino said teasingly as he and Adrien stopped a pace away from them to stand in line as well. "I think she's just excited to go here or something."

"Apparently," Marinette drolled as Alya shot the boy an annoyed look.

" _Anyways,_ " the blogger said in annoyance as she led the quartet to move forward in line. "Apparently this place doesn't run on tokens or coins. What you do is load a card up with money and slide the card at one of the games to play. It keeps track of everything so that you don't have to. You can also pay to go skating, play laser tag, and all sorts of different things like that!"

"What should we do first?" Nino asked.

"I don't know," Alya responded as they moved forward yet again. "It all sounds like fun so I say we let model-boy here decide because, from the looks of it, this is probably his first time going to an arcade." She gestured to Adrien who started from where he had been gawking at all of the games. He immediately turned to face her and rubbed the back of his head, a sheepish smile on his face. He had been trying to be covert in his attempt to take everything in, but the ever-observant blogger had clearly seen the look of awe on his face.

"It doesn't really matter to me," he said with a laugh. "I'm happy just to hang out with you guys."

"M-maybe we could start with the arcade games then?" Marinette piped up nervously from where she stood behind Alya. "We could put 20 euros on the cards to start and then, i-if we have time, we could try one of the attractions."

"That sounds like a great plan, Marinette," Adrien said as he gave her an encouraging smile that immediately set her face a-flame. She attempted to thank him, but all she could muster was an odd nod that almost gave her whiplash. Alya shared an exasperated look with Nino. She had thought that her best friend would be over her nervousness by now. Taking pity on the poor love-struck girl, she interjected before Marinette could make the situation too awkward for the group as a whole to handle.

"Yeah! I mean we have all summer so, if we want to come back and try something else, we can totally do that." There was a beat of silence before a devilish grin broke out across the resident DJ's face.

"I say we make this into a competition," Nino said, a devious look in his eyes. "Whoever gets the most tickets gets to choose what attraction we go to afterwards!"

"That's not fair!" Alya yelled as she turned to mock-glare at Nino

"You're only saying that because you don't think that you'll win," Nino pointed out as he looked at Alya with a mischievous grin.

"Of _course_ I'm not going to win," she moped as she glared at him. "We all know how good at video games Marinette is!"

"And just how many of those video games award tickets? She can't be good at _every_ game that she plays, right? So, if we all play the same games, then we have a chance."

" _She_ is right here you know!" Marinette interjected with a huff as she crossed her arms at her two supposed friends. She turned to Alya with a raised eyebrow. "And what, exactly, is wrong with a little friendly competition?"

"We're here to have fun, Marinette, not fight. You're not always the nicest person when there's a competition. Remember what happened the last time you were overly competitive?"

Marinette had the decency to look abashed at the memory. Near the end of the year, she and Alya had decided to race back to the school after lunch. It was supposed to be a friendly competition where the only thing at stake was a free coffee. But, as the two had approached the school, Marinette had almost broken Alya's glasses in her attempt to take the lead.

"It wasn't _that_ bad," Marinette mumbled as the boys attempted to hold in their laughter at the recollection of seeing the designer tearing towards the school with a look of victory on her face.

"Girl, you pushed me into a _newsstand_." Alya gave her best friend a pointed look as she disentangled herself to cross her arms over her chest. "I was bruised up for almost a week afterwards!" A look of regret passed over her friend's face before she mumbled something that sounded an awful lot like 'I said I was sorry' before blowing out an annoyed breath.

"What if we did it in teams?" Adrien said as he set a placating hand on each of the girl's shoulders.

Alya's eyes caught the way that Adrien was looking at her friend with a bemused look and she felt some of her fire go out. In all honesty, Alya didn't care too much about being competitive. In fact she could be just as competitive as her best friend, but as some of Marinette's confidence fled her at the small gesture, the gears in her head began to turn.

If Alya could get her friend's blood boiling with this competition, then maybe –just maybe- she would be able to make more progress in her attempt to get over her Agreste-exposure problem. At least she hoped that Marinette would get over it soon.

If she didn't, then this whole summer would just be one long, and awkward, nightmare.

"Alright, alright," Alya said with a wave of her hand. "I'll participate in this competition on one condition: we do this with teams. _And_ I get Adrien as my partner."

The look on her best friend's face was well worth her split second decision.

"W-what?!" Marinette spluttered as her eyes flashed an emotion akin to betrayal. Adrien pulled back his hands from both girls' shoulders as Alya let out a loud laugh as her best friend recoiled. "B-but I thought-"

"Thought that you'd be on Mr. Model's team? Sorry, but this is war. This was Nino's idea so he can deal with your competitive spirit. C'mon, Agreste, let's get our cards. We've got a war to win." Without another word, Alya caught Adrien's collar and pulled him towards the next available cashier. The quick action elicited a small yelp from the poor blonde as he followed the blogger in an attempt to avoid destroying his shirt.

"What just happened?" Marinette asked in disbelief as she turned to Nino for clarification. The bespectacled boy merely shrugged as he moved towards another teller.

"Don't ask me, but we'd better find a good game that gets us a lot of tickets or else she'll choose some activity like roller skating out of spite. You don't want to fall on your ass in front of Adrien do you?"

"You're right." Marinette's eyes blazed as she pushed her way past Nino and slammed her money down on the counter, effectively startling the poor cashier. "We can't let them win. My dignity is on the line."

* * *

It was about an hour later when the Nino and Marinette caught up with Alya and Adrien. There was a triumphant look on the blogger's face as she pulled Adrien, again, in the direction that she was walking.

"So," she began as she came to a stop, "How many tickets did you two get?"

"I got 555 and Nino got 449 giving us a total of 1,004," Marinette said as she crossed her arms jutting her hip out. Alya blanched as the number registered in her head. Her best friend arched an eyebrow before smiling triumphantly. "Well Nino looks like-"

"You have _got_ to be kidding me!" Alya exclaimed as she turned to Adrien imploringly. "There is absolutely _no way_ that we tied!" Adrien tilted his head to the side as he double checked the math in his head before shaking his head with a laugh.

"No, both of our teams definitely got 1,004 tickets each! What are the odds of this happening?" Alya groaned into her hands.

"What's the point of a competition if we _tie?_ "

"We could go by who individually had the most tickets," Nino offered as he removed his hat long enough to run a hand through his short hair. "How many tickets did each of you get?"

"389," Alya mumbled through gritted teeth. "Beginner's Luck over there got a total of 615." Adrien scratched the back of his head sheepishly as both Marinette and Nino gawked at him.

"Seriously? That's awesome dude!" Nino slung an arm around his best friend and mussed up his hair.

"Thanks," Adrien said as a light blush colored his face at the praise from his friend. "All I did was find a game I was good at and kept playing it."

"Well, it apparently paid off. Now which of the attractions do you want to go to?"

"I-" Adrien paused as he reached into his pocket to retrieve his phone. He glanced at the screen before sighing. "Just a sec. I have to take this." He untangled himself from Nino's and Alya's arms and moved away from his friends in order to answer his phone as discreetly as he possibly could. Nino sighed heavily as a deep frown set into his face.

"Who do you think it is?" Marinette asked quietly as she watched Adrien's face scrunch up in displeasure.

"Probably his dad's assistant. Nathalie is like his keeper so, if his dad thinks he's been out too long _she's_ the one to deliver the message."

"Does it happen often?"

"This is actually one of the few times that his dad has let him hang out outside of school," the DJ said with a sigh as replaced his hat roughly upon his head. "I was actually surprised to see him show up. He mentioned that he was supposed to have a pretty jam-packed schedule this summer." Marinette wanted to inquire further, but she shut her mouth when the fourth member of their posse pocketed his phone and made his way back to rejoin the group.

"Sorry about that," Adrien said as he plastered a smile on his face. "Nathalie was just letting me know that she and the Gorilla would be here in a little while to pick me up."

"Why so soon?" Marinette blurted out before she could stop to think. It was a valid question. It was barely past five in the afternoon. But, no matter how valid it was, she immediately began internally kicking herself for overstepping her bounds. She bit her lip as she saw his shoulders sag slightly and his forced smile slipped from his face.

"Dad wants to go over my summer schedule," he said with a frustrated sigh. "I told Nathalie that I didn't want to go home so soon, but he's apparently flying out first thing tomorrow so I can't stay any later otherwise he would have to stay up too late."

"Sorry to hear," Alya said as she patted his shoulder. "But, hey, now you'll have plenty of time to figure out what attraction you want to go to when we come back!" Adrien let out a small chuckle.

"W-we should go and redeem our tickets before you have to go," Marinette suggested hurriedly as she clumsily retrieved her card from her pocket. The model tilted his head cutely to the side in confusion.

"What tickets?"

"Dude," Nino interjected with a flabbergasted look on his face. "Don't tell me you didn't realize that that's what you do with the tickets. What did you think that wall was for?" He pointed to the far wall where there was a plethora of prizes hanging up on the wall behind a large counter.

"I thought it was just for decoration?"

"You're hopeless, dude." Nino let out a laugh as he threw an arm around his friend's shoulders and guided him towards the counter. "I'll warn you, the ticket to prize ratio is pretty steep, but you've got enough tickets that you'll get to have your pick of almost whatever you want."

Alya and Marinette allowed the two to get ahead of them as the designer worried her lip before speaking in a low tone that the boys wouldn't be able to pick up. "I guess I never really realized how strict his dad was… or how upset it makes Adrien."

"Yeah," Alya said replied as they trailed behind. "Nino's mentioned to me a few times just how restrictive his dad can be. Apparently he used to be a lot worse before Adrien went to school, but it hasn't been a whole lot better either." She turned to look her friend over for a moment before putting her own comforting arm around her best friend's shoulders. "Hey, cheer up. I'm sure all of us will get to hang out more this summer. His dad can't keep him locked up _all_ summer."

Alya watched as Marinette let out a small breath before she stood a bit straighter and squared her shoulders. The two girls shared a look and, just from one glance, Alya could see that a small fire had ignited itself within her friend. Sure, Marinette would, more than likely, still be a bumbling mess around Adrien. But, now that she was fueled by a mission, there would be nothing stopping Marinette from making sure that Adrien had a summer filled with as much fun and laughter as was possible.

Alya pitied whoever might attempt to get in the way of her best friend.

"You guys find anything good?" Alya asked as they arrived directly behind the duo.

"I think," Adrien began, "That the question you mustache us is this: is there anything good left for you." A moment later he turned around and both girls stopped dead in their tracks. There was Adrien, sporting a pair of fake glasses –fake nose and mustache attached somehow secured to the cheap black frame- and the most serious look that they had ever seen him give. The spell was broken almost instantly as Nino burst out laughing at the look of exasperation and horror on Alya and Marinette's faces, respectfully.

"Man," Nino wheezed, "I swear you can get anything _but_ those glasses. I don't think I can handle another one of your horrible puns."

"You make puns?" Marinette said in a very high pitched voice. Adrien's face immediately cracked into a smirk that left the girl simultaneously breathless and exasperated.

"You nose it!"

"I have to agree with Nino on this one, it's a no-go on those glasses. I don't think _any of us_ can handle those horrible puns."

"Well, since they're my tickets, I think it is a definite 'yes.' Now… what else should I get? Ah!" His hand stopped as he pointed to a small black cat stuffed animal. "I'll have to get that, too! It looks like it's the cat's meow!"

"Dude. Seriously. Stop."

"Aww, don't spoil my fun Nino!" The aforementioned teen groaned, but the small smile on his face told his friend that he was not seriously bothered by his horrible jokes. "Besides, I'll have just a little left over if I get these two things. What are you guys going to get?"

"I don't know," Alya said as she bumped Nino's shoulder. "These two punks have been standing in my way so I haven't gotten a good look around yet."

"Yeah," Marinette said as she shyly sidled up next to Adrien. "T-they make better doors than windows."

"Sorry!" Adrien scratched the back of his head as he took a step or two away from the counter to give her room to look. "I didn't mean to get in the way."

"I-It's fine!" Marinette laughed as she pretended to look over her options. "We were just kidding!"

Out of the corner of her eye she watched Adrien laugh before he stepped back further to approach the worker who was standing at the till. She was forced to look over at Alya, tough, when she heard a loud gasp.

"They have ladybug plushies! I _have_ to get one!"

"You know that's all you'll be able to get right? And it's just a regular ladybug. It's not like it's official merch or anything."

"I don't care, Nino!" Marinette rolled her eyes as she tuned the two out so that her eyes could finally begin to take in her options. She found herself drawn to the stuffed animals as well. She was tempted to copy her friends, but then her eyes lit upon a white stress ball with a purple butterfly on it next to a regular red yo-yo. She cracked a smile at the irony as she turned to the worker who stood patiently in front of her.

"I'll take those two things," she said as sure pointed out her selections. The worker pulled them out before checking their ticket value.

"That'll be 500 tickets. Anything else?"

"Umm… "She looked down at the smaller items and spotted some cute pens that were within her spending range. "Two pens please." With that figured out, she handed the card to the employee. She offered her gratitude as the man returned the card and her prizes. She then stepped away from the counter in order to give the others room enough to make their selections.

She watched Alya get her ladybug. The girl immediately nuzzled it and, in that moment, Marinette imagined that the plush was Tikki instead. She couldn't quite place the emotion that the scene filled her with, but there certainly was something akin to longing sitting low in her stomach. There was a part of her that knew the two would get along really well and it pained her to know that they couldn't.

There was also a part of her that hoped desperately that it would happen someday.

A moment later Nino selected a pair of fuzzy dice and a bag of hard candies. Marinette was about to turn to Adrien when, all of a sudden, he dashed back toward the counter excitedly. His quick movements gave the pair at the counter pause. She couldn't quite see what he was pointing at, but his excitement was rolling off of him in waves. As the clerk pulled out a bowl for him to look at he turned around and beckoned Marinette forward.

"I have some tickets left over," Adrien explained as Marinette took in the bowl of various kinds of friendship bracelets. "So I thought I should spend them and, since they're so cheap, I thought I'd get us all bracelets so choose one out!"

"B-but," Marinette hedged," they're _your_ tickets!"

"Don't try to fight him on it Marinette," Nino warned as he picked through the bowl himself before selecting one that was green and blue braided together. "If you don't choose one, he'll choose it for you."

"U-unless you don't want one," Adrien clarified. "Then-"

"A-ah no! I just meant that you earned those tickets so you should get to choose a prize for yourself! You don't have to waste them on us!" There was a pause before Marinette felt her heart melt as Adrien's face softened into an affectionate smile.

"They aren't being wasted, trust me." With that he turned around and pushed the bowl towards her. In that moment Marinette found herself unable to speak as she mutely reached forward and began sifting through the collection. She pulled out a pink one with a green heart pattern on it. She looked at it and then handed it to Adrien. His smile widened as he added it to the four already in his hand.

"Why do you have five? There's only four of us. "Alya asked in bemusement as Adrien rushed to close his fist over the braided strings.

"I had enough tickets so I thought one more couldn't hurt?" Adrien smiled sheepishly before hurriedly heading to the counter. A few moments later and he was handing out the bracelets to their person while nonchalantly pocketing the remaining bracelet. He was about to affix it to his wrist when Marinette shot out her hand to stop him.

"You can't just put it on!" Adrien froze before Marinette rushed on. "W-what I mean is, you can't put it on yourself! You have t-to have a friend put it on. And, while they put it on you make a wish so that, when it falls off on its own, your wish'll come true." Alya burst out laughing as her best friend's face became bright red. The flustered girl immediately crossed her arms in a huff as she glared at her mirth-filled friend. "I-It's true! Don't tell me you never had a superstition like that when you were a kid!"

"I didn't actually," Alya said through her laughter. "We just made them and wore them. I will say, though, that your version of it is a lot cuter. Where'd you first hear that anyways?"

"N-Nobody really." There was absolutely no way that she would admit that the tradition had started with Chloe during their second year of elementary school together. "It's just how I've always done it."

She could remember how absolutely _adamant_ the blonde had been back then about how none of the girls were 'doing it right.' Most of their class had discarded her instructions, but, because Marinette had been much more passive back then, the baker's daughter had ventured to ask why. It had taken a little bit of pushing, but, after standing there patiently, the mayor's daughter had eventually explained her process. She didn't go into great detail about who had taught _her_ how to do it, but even, as a child, Marinette could tell that someone important had told her how to 'do it right.' Ever since then, Marinette indulged in the ritual of making sure that someone else tied on friendship bracelets for her so that her wishes had a better chance of coming true.

She figured that there was no harm in a little bit of extra luck.

"I think that's a great way of doing it, Marinette," Adrien said with a small smile as he held out his right wrist and bracelet towards her. "Do you wanna tie mine on?"

"Of course you do, you sap," Nino said with a laugh as he held out his own wrist to Alya. Adrien rolled his eyes.

"Yeah, yeah," he said before turning back to Marinette expectantly. In a flash of understanding she reached forward and took the bracelet from his hands.

"Uh. W-which wrist?"

"This one," Adrien said with a small chuckle as he made a gesture with the arm that he had already extended.

"R-Right!" With slightly fumbling fingers Marinette tried to take great care to tie his bracelet on tight enough that it would stay on, but loose enough that it wouldn't cut off the circulation on his arm. She watched him close his green eyes for a moment as she righted the bracelet. Her hands lingered over the black, red, and green alternating chevron design far longer than was probably necessary before she retracted them. "Did you make a wish?"

"Yep!" He said with a smile as he opened his eyes. "Do you wanna know?"

"I... I can't," She said with a slight frown. "It's just like with a falling star. If you tell someone else what you wished for, then it won't come true.

"Oh, Okay! That makes sense."

"You do realize that-"

"Shut up, Nino!" Alya said in annoyance as she thrust her own bracelet –one that was significantly different in that it was made of hemp and had orange beads interwoven in it- into his hand. Adrien cocked his eyebrow up in confusion.

"Realize what?"

"Nothing, Adrien," Alya said with a pointed look aimed at Nino. The boy gave an awkward laugh before shrugging and turning to away.

"Do you want me to tie yours on?"

"S-Sure!" Marinette said too loudly as she thrust her left wrist at him with her own bracelet in hand. She turned her face away as she felt the string and then his hands gently ghosting over her wrist. The small amount of contact made her heart race. She looked to her best friend for some guidance, but the blogger simply gave her a 'you did this to yourself' look before turning back to whatever conversation she was attempting to have with Nino.

"Your wrist is so tiny," Adrien said with a small laugh. His teasing tone pulled her attention back to his dexterous hands that were almost finished securing the bracelet. She giggled slightly as his hand accidentally tickled the sensitive skin of her forearm. "Sorry." His hand stilled and Marinette swore that the teasing smile playing across his face would be the death of her.

At the same time she hoped to God that she would get to see more of that smile this summer.

It took her a moment for it to register in her mind that he was speaking again, but, once his question over whether she had made a wish made it through to her waterlogged brain, she nodded dumbly. A prayer for seeing his smile as much as was physically possible this summer counted as a wish right?

"We should probably wait outside for your ride to get here," Nino interjected reluctantly, effectively breaking the spell that had fallen over the pair. Adrien pulled his hands away from Marinette's wrist with a small sigh and a sullen nod of his head.

"You're right. Nathalie will be upset if she has to wait too long." As the words sunk in it was as if a dark cloud had rolled in. It obstructed some the light that had been in his eyes only moments before. In the blink of an eye all Marinette was left with was a chill on her wrist where his hands had been and a sunburn on her cheeks where his smile had shone brightly upon her face.

"You coming, Mari?" It took a second for Marinette to realize that Alya was calling back to her from where the other three had already begun to move. Her eyes looked around the arcade one more time and, as she was about to nod, her eyes fell upon a photobooth not too far from where they had been standing.

"We should do that before we leave," she blurted out as she pointed to the direction of the small booth. She didn't know where the urge had come from, but there was a strong part of her that wanted to immortalize the time that they had spent together today.

"You think we'd all really fit in there?" Nino asked dubiously as he eyed the small device.

"We'll have to squeeze, but I'm sure we can make it work!" The designer walked purposefully towards the machine and took in the options before her eyes lit up. "Look it even has an option for printing four copies!"

"But-"

"It'll be quick, I promise!"

"Don't fight it, Agreste," Alya advised as she dragged the poor blonde into the booth. "Marinette is in mission mode. It's best if you just go along with it." Adrien valiantly attempted to protest one more time, but to no avial. Nino filed in next leaving Marinette to pull the curtain back to find that Alya had so very helpfully left the seat, which was occupied by a certain blonde, open for her to take while she and Nino stood behind.

"It's going to take three shots," Marinette explained as she ignored the goading look of her best friend in favor of pulling out her wallet to pay the machine. "What poses do we want to do?"

"I say classic," Alya said as she leaned on the back of the seat for support. "First one is nice smiles. Second one we have serious faces with maybe a bit of flare. And the third one we make the goofiest faces and poses that we can."

"Sounds like a plan."

"Wait," Marinette paused to see an unreadable look cross Adrien's face. "Can we use props for the third one?"

"Sure, man," Nino said with a laugh. "Just be quick about it because there isn't much time between each of the pictures."

"You forget, Nino, that _I'm_ the professional here." Nino groaned as Adrien sent him a wink.

"You guys ready?" Marinette, oblivious to the bullet that she had dodged while fiddling with her wallet asked as she put her wallet back into her purse. She looked up just in time to see Adrien pull the glasses that he had earned out of his pocket and place them, open, in his lap before he nodded with a smile. She received similar responses from the rest of the group before pressing the button and sitting back in her seat.

The next two minutes were filled with quite a bit of chaos because, while the four friends had planned their poses quite well, the results were a bit… mixed.

The first photo went well. The four teens smiled nicely for the camera without anything to distract the viewer from appreciating their genuine smiles. The second one was a bit less organized. Some took the serious directions a bit _too_ seriously, namely Nino, while others went with a bit more flare –all Adrien.

And then there was the third photo.

"Oh my _gosh_ ," Alya wheezed through her hysterical laughter, her copy of the photo strip clutched desperately to her chest. "How did you even get _into_ that pose?!"

"Very carefully," Adrien said cheekily as he looked over his own copy while the group walked towards the front of the arcade. "What I want to know is what _you two_ are doing in the back! Seriously are you guys trying to choke each other or something?"

"I don't know about Alya, but I was trying to give her bunny ears or something when she nearly hit my head with her elbow.

"At least you didn't _actually_ get hit," Marinette grumbled as she rubbed her sore head. "Can we be even for the-"

"Girl, we will _never_ be even for you knocking me into that newsstand."

"Come _on_! You have to forgive me someday! You know that it was a complete accident."

"Forgiveness must be given freely. If it's obtained by any other means, then that's called extortion, Honey."

"Oh _whatever_ ," Marinette scoffed as the group opened the doors and spilled out into the crowded sidewalk. "You can't-"

"Adrien?" The group turned as one to find an annoyed looking Nathalie standing beside the Agreste town car. "We've been waiting for nearly ten minutes. When I said that we would be here soon I expected for you to be out here waiting."

"Sorry, Nathalie," Adrien said with an abashed look to his face. "We had to redeem our tickets for prizes and that took a bit longer than we thought that it would." The assistant let out an annoyed sigh before opening the back door for him to climb into.

"It's fine. Just get in quickly so that we can get home so that your father can finish preparing for his trip." Adrien sullenly began to head to the opened door, but paused for a moment to give his goodbyes.

"I'll see you guys later. I'll make sure that the twenty-eighth is free, Nino," he said with a meaningful look at his best friend before he turned to Alya and Marinette. "Are there any other big things that you guys can think of? I can't make guarantees, but I can try." The three remaining friends looked amongst themselves before shaking their heads.

"Not really," Alya said as she stretched and covertly flashed a two and zero above Marinette's head. Adrien nodded in understanding.

"Okay so…" He trailed off awkwardly.

"We'll make more plans soon, for sure," Nino said with confidently as he gave his friend a two finger salute. Adrien smiled slightly as he returned it.

"I-I forgot to mention that I got the new DLC for Mecha Strike III!" Marinette said as Adrien went to slide into the backseat. "We should play it later."

"Sounds like a plan," Adrien said as his small smile grew a bit wider. "See you guys later!" He gave the group a wave before he was cut off from the crowded sidewalk by the car door. He watched through the window as the others waved back at him before heading in the opposite direction. Nathalie reentered the vehicle before his chauffeur merged into the traffic in the direction of his house.

As they drove home, Adrien couldn't help but feel loneliness begin to sink in. After so much wonderful time spent with his friends he didn't like the prospect of spending copious amounts of time alone in the mansion.

He let out a small sigh as his eyes caught sight of the third picture in the strip that was still clutched in his hand. It had to be one of the weirdest that had ever been taken of him. There were Alya and Nino in the background looking as though they were attempting to strangle each other while also making odd faces at the camera. There was Marinette looking rather shocked, her arms sticking up at odd angles as she attempted to retroactively protect her head from Alya's elbow. And, finally, there was Adrien himself. He was sitting with his new novelty glasses perched crookedly on his face as he gestured wildly at the others in the frame as if telling the viewing audience that he was confused by what was going on.

He ran a hand over the glossy print and was about to pocket it when his phone buzzed. He carefully placed the picture in his breast pocket before he pulled his phone out with a perplexed look.

 **Marinette: Maman and Papa said they don't need my help until noon tomorrow so I'm free all night so if you wanna play after your meeting!**

Adrien felt a fraction of his earlier smile tug at his lips as he sent his response.

 **Adrien: Sounds like a plan. I'll text you soon as it's over!**

The model locked his phone before resting his cheek upon the fist that held the device tightly within its grasp. He always dreaded meeting with his father, especially when it was bout schedules for the season. Usually all that would come from it would be a tight schedule of summer studies, lessons, and photoshoots. But, perhaps, if he were insistent enough, he could advocate for time with his friends to be budgeted into it as well.

It would certainly be a hard fought battle. His father didn't like to compromise with anyone. But, now that Adrien was no longer a novice at fighting for what was right, perhaps he had a chance of winning. He at least had to give it a shot because, if times like today were what he had to look forward to, then he would give it everything he had.

Because his friends were worth whatever consequences he would face.

* * *

A/N: I'm really sorry for how long this took to get out! I had a good chuck done for quite a while, but then I got stuck pretty bad. It wasn't until I cut the last third (well... what was _then_ the last third...) and then I was able to finally figure out where to go from there. It then grew from there and.. well... it ended up being the longest piece I've written. At least I don't think I've written 8,118 words of prose before... Please don't expect this kind of length from me every chapter!

I do want to warn you guys that there has been a bit of a change to the way that this story is going to go. Originally this was just going to be a large collection of one shots about summer, but that's changed. There is still probably going to be a somewhat one-shot feel to some of the chapters, but each one is going to be tightly connected... I got hit pretty hard with an idea while I was blocked so, please, bear with me. I like giving people surprises so I'm not going to tell you much beyond this... but I hope that you guys like what I have planned!

Anyways, thanks so much for reading! All of your guys' kind words mean the world to me! Please, if you have any questions, weird thoughts, suggestions, and the like, then leave a review!


	3. Ice Cream

Chapter 3: Ice Cream

* * *

 _8 years prior_

* * *

It was Adrien's seventh summer and quite a few photographers were already enamored with his smile. Many called him cute while others loved how mild-mannered he was. He was well-known among the child modeling sphere for never throwing tantrums and always willing to please. He believed going to photoshoots was fun and loved how happy the pictures made his parents.

He also loved his mother's tradition of taking him out for ice cream after almost every photoshoot. Sometimes they tried new places, but, usually, they went to the same shop. Every time they went, the owner welcomed them happily and would always ask how they were doing.

The first time the woman named Jackie had asked him directly, though, Adrien had immediately become shy and hid behind his mother's skirt. He was normally not shy around a lot of new people, but the plump woman acted so differently than everyone else that he didn't know what to make of her. As time wore on, though, he grew more comfortable with the attention from the friendly woman. He even learned to ask her how she were doing and occasionally joke with her as well.

It was usually just the two of them. Even at such a young age, Adrien understood his father's need to be busy, but, when he did take time out to spend with them, it always made his son happy. So, when Gabriel had been waiting for them in the car after his most recent photoshoot one Sunday afternoon, Adrien had been beyond ecstatic.

"Papa!" He exclaimed as his short legs carried him towards the town car where his father sat, waiting. "What're you doing here?!"

"I finished my work early so I thought that I would surprise you two." Gabriel did not smile as widely as his son and wife did, but there was a small grin that softened his face.

Besides, Adrien's smile was certainly large enough to make up for it.

"That's so sweet," Adrien's mother, Elianna Agreste, said with a gentle smile. "Richard," she called as she shut the door behind her. "We'll be going to the same place as usual!"

"Yes, ma'am!" The chauffeur said with a happy wave before pulling away from the curb and out into traffic.

"And just what this 'usual' place, " Gabriel asked in feigned ignorance.

"An ice cream parlor!" Adrien called out happily. "Maman and I go after almost every photoshoot. You'll get to meet Jackie!" Gabriel looked at his wife in amusement when Adrien began bouncing on his seat in excitement.

"And what is the name of this establishment?" The young boy scrunched up his face in confusion at the sound of such a big and confusing word.

"Establishment is another word for a place of business. Your father is asking for the name of the ice cream parlor," Elianna explained patiently. Adrien mouthed the word to himself a few times before answering his father.

"Le Lapin Bleu! They have the best ice cream in all of Paris!"

"Oh, do they now? I suppose that I'll have to be the judge of that." Elianna rolled her eyes as their son frowned at his father.

It was obvious from a young age that Adrien held his father's opinion in a rather high regard. Elianna saw it as rather endearing, but there were moments, such as this one, where she worried that her husband did not understand how much sway his opinion had over their young son. For example she knew that, if he were to say something negative about the ice cream parlor, her young and impressionable son would find it difficult to return in the future. Before she could voice such an opinion, though, the car came to a stop in front of what was, presumably the shop.

"We're here!" Adrien shouted, his nervous consideration gone in a flash. He fumbled with his seat belt for a few minutes before his mother reached over to undo the contraption for him. As soon as he was free, he made to open the door, but his father's stern voice stopped him.

"There are a lot of people out there, you need to wait for the chauffeur to open the door."

"Yes, Papa," Adrien said with a dejected sigh. The moment that the door opened, though, Adrien sprung from the car and ran into the ice cream parlor. His father sighed heavily as he almost barreled into at least three people in the process.

"He's just excited to spend time with you," Elianna said quietly as she placed a gentle hand on his.

"Don't be too hard on him today, alright?" She then exited the car before he did. He was not far behind. Once he was standing, he offered his arm to his wife which she took gladly.

"I know," Gabriel said in exasperation as he continued the conversation. "I just wish he would do it with less energy." The woman laughed at him as they approached the shop.

"Do you really? If I remember right, someone is always suggesting toys and games that rile him up more than anything else can."

"I don't know what you're talking about."

"I'm sure you don't," Elianna said with a laugh. As the entered the shop, decorated with old-fashioned looking blue bunnies, the couple found their son talking excitedly to the cashier who was nodding patiently. As the bell dinged above them, the plump woman looked up and smiled brightly at the pair.

"Gabriel! It's been so long!"

"Hello, Jacqueline," The man in question said stiffly as the woman came from behind the counter to approach the two. "I see that the shop is as…" He took in decorations that were various shades of blue as well as the fact that there were currently no customers before continuing, "quaint as ever."

"And I can see that you're just as stiff as ever. Just how many times do I have to tell you to call me Jackie?"

"Too many I'm afraid," Elianna said with a smile as the women embraced in greeting.

"You've been here before?" Adrien asked father with wide eyes as he rejoined his parents.

"What, you mean to tell me that the two of you haven't told little Adrien here about how you met?" Both adults immediately flushed and looked away from the long-time friend. Gabriel was the first to regain his composure and he immediately pierced the woman with an annoyed glance.

"I do not believe that Adrien needs to hear that story."

"Oh, humbug!" Jackie cried as she threw her hands up. "Suit yourself, Gabby, but I do believe that he should hear that story someday. It is quite adorable and I don't think he should be deprived of such."

"Jackie," Elianna said in a placating manner, "We just believe that he should be a bit… older when he hears about that story. He is only seven you know."

"Yeah, yeah," Jackie said with a huff. After a moment she reached down and tousled Adrien's hair, effectively causing the poor boy to yelp out an indignant cry of the shopkeeper's name. "He is a bit young I suppose. Anyways, what can I get for the three of you?"

"What kind of ice cream would you like, Adrien?" Elianna asked as she gently led her son towards the counter as the shopkeeper returned to her station. He took a moment to look at all of the options in a meticulous manner before pointing to a tub in the back that was a bright green with flecks of chocolate strewn throughout.

"Can I have mint?"

"Looks as though it was mint to be Gabriel," Jackie said with a knowing glint in her bright blue eyes. Adrien looked at her in confusion while his father attempted to keep his anger in check. The small child looked between the owner and his father before biting his lip in nervousness.

"Yes, dear," Elianna said with a small laugh. "Mint sounds wonderful. I'll have the same."

Jackie ignored Gabriel's attempt to order something different. "Would the three of you like your mint ice cream in a cone or a cup?"

"Jacqueline you know-"

"Sorry, no 'Jacqueline's are working here today! Now, Adrien, would you like a cup or a cone?"

"A cone?" He asked as he turned to his father in uncertainty. He didn't quite understand why his father was getting so upset, but the young boy really enjoyed cones and hoped that his preferred method of eating wouldn't upset his papa.

He never liked upsetting his papa.

"Alright, little buddy. Three mint chocolate chip ice cream cones coming right up!" Gabriel ground his teeth at the cheeky owner in an attempt to not say something scathing, taking no notice of his son's perceptiveness. Adrien shrank a little as he picked up on his father's upset nature. He considered changing his order when his mother gently placed her hand on his shoulder in an attempt to soothe his tightly-wound nerves.

"Don't worry about it, sweetie," his mother said comfortingly. "Your Papa and Jackie just don't always get along."

"Well, it's more like your father doesn't have a sense of humor," Jackie said with a wink as she leaned down to hand the child his treat first. "Here you go." Adrien hesitated for a moment, but then took the treat and began eating it. With every lick his unease began fading. The owner then served Elianna, but paused when she arrived at Gabriel who had crossed his arms.

"Here's your cone, sir."

The designer simply gave her a pointed look.

"Gabriel," Elianna said exasperatedly from where she had begun to direct their son to a booth in the back of the shop. "Do you really have to do this every time?"

"She hasn't rung up our order. Before I can accept that cone I need a receipt."

Adrien tilted his head in confusion. "Why does Papa need a receipt? Jackie always-"

"Don't worry Adrien darling!" Jackie said in a high voice. "I'll-"

"Be ringing us up."

"But Gabby," she whined, "the ice cream is going to melt! And besides, it'll be wasted if you wait much longer. I'll ring you up as soon as I have a free hand, how about that?" The two adults stared at each other for long moments. It wasn't until ice cream began running down her hand that Gabriel finally reached for the cone with an annoyed sigh.

"Be sure to ring up all of the orders that the Agreste family has purchased," he said pointedly as he reached for a napkin to wipe off excess ice cream that had begun to drip down the side of the cone. He then began to make his way towards his family.

"You know as well as I do that they are all paid in f-"

"All of them. I won't leave until you have a receipt for me." He said over his shoulder before finishing the trek to where his family sat. He cautiously sat down, across from his wife and son, before beginning to eat his own cone. As he ate it as carefully as he could, he caught his wife's gaze and he could see her barely contained amusement.

He simply rolled his eyes.

"Do you like it Papa?" Adrien asked from where he sat beside Eliana. As Gabriel looked over his son critically. He could see a small amount of trepidation lingering in his wide green eyes. He let out a sigh and consciously forced himself to relax slightly in his seat as he continued to eat his dessert.

"Yes, Adrien. Thank you for suggesting it." The smile that broke across his young son's face gave the world-renowned designer pause. Adrien was known for smiling a lot, but there were sometimes when his happiness took his father by surprise. It normally was over the smallest of things, things that Gabriel couldn't comprehend how they could cause so much happiness, but they always seemed to warm a part of him that he could not name.

A few moments later Gabriel's attention was drawn to a small slip of receipt paper that was nonchalantly placed on the table. He took one look at the sheet of paper and let out an annoyed sigh as frustration filled him. It seemed as though he were about to stand to have a few words with the owner, who was conveniently already halfway back to the counter, but his wife's hand atop his stopped him.

"Let her do this," she said quietly. "You know she just-"

"You know I don't like owing others, Elianna."

"You don't owe her anything, Gabriel," she insisted, "if anything she-"

"Owes me nothing," he said testily. He looked up to watch the woman as she gave him a triumphant look before turning to work on cleaning up her workstation. Gabriel pursed his lips before a smirk crossed his face. "Though she deserves a tip wouldn't you agree?" His wife let out a resigned sigh as she withdrew her hand.

"Do you remember what happened the last time you did that? She slipped it right back in my purse the next time I was here." He shrugged noncommittally as he continued to work on his ice cream.

"You'll just need to be a bit more careful about who puts their hands in your purse." Elianna groaned into her hand as Adrien looked on curiously. He didn't quite understand why Jackie being nice to all of them was such a big deal so he worked on finishing his ice cream in contented silence. Not too much later the young child finished eating and sat as still as he possibly could as he waited for his parents to finish as well.

Which, for a seven-year-old who had been sitting for quite a while already, was quite difficult.

"Sit still, Adrien," Gabriel said sternly as Adrien kicked the booth for the fifth time in a row in an alternating pattern. Said boy immediately stopped and did his best to not start again.

The shopkeeper made an indignant noise. "You do realize that he's still really young, right?"

"Jacqueline," Gabriel said as he shot the woman an annoyed look. "I do not appreciate-"

"He's been sitting for hours on end for a camera and just had a lot of sugar. You would have a lot of energy to burn off too if you were his age," Jackie said with a stern glare, one hand planted firmly on her hip.

"Then, pray tell, how would you suggest that he rid himself of that energy?"

"By doing what he normally does: help me a little bit with the shop." The blonde man gave her a skeptical look. How on earth could a seven-year-old help out at an ice cream shop? He then turned to his wife in silent askance.

"It's not much. More often than not he's simply shadowing her as she works."

"Elianna is that really-"

"It's fine, Gabriel. Just watch and see." She smiled reassuringly before turning to Adrien with kind eyes. "Why don't you go on ahead and show your papa how helpful you can be?"

The young boy looked anxious for a moment, but, after his mother gently prodded him again, he stood and went to the counter where Jackie stood expectantly. As he approached, Jackie opened the half-door to let him through. Once behind the counter she reached for a tiny blue bunny-patterned apron and secured it around him to protect his nice clothes.

"Alright, you ready?" Adrien nodded excitedly as he disappeared out of sight for a moment before returning with a small step stool that he set up where the ice cream was. He then carefully reached for a pair of gloves and stood there patiently waiting for a new customer to arrive.

"He does this every time?" Gabriel asked quietly as he finished his ice cream cone. His wife giggled lightly as she wiped her fingers with a napkin, having finished hers a few moments earlier.

"Almost. About the third time we came here, it was really busy and Adrien asked if he could help out. Jackie was a bit hesitant, but then set him on scooping and delivery duty. He did it so well that she'll let him do it every time that we come if he wants. The customers love it." The designer made a non-committal noise as the bell over the door chimed and a new customer, an elderly Chinese man wearing a very touristy Hawaiian shirt, hobbled into the shop using a cane for support. He watched as his son straightened to attention, scoop in hand, and waited for orders. Jackie turned from what she was doing and a bright smile breaking across her face as soon as she took in the sight of the new customer.

"Fu! It's so nice to see you. How have you been?"

The old man laughed good-naturedly. "As well as these old bones will let me. How about yourself?"

"Absolutely wonderful. Do you want your usual?" He paused or a moment before nodding.

"Yes, please."

"You go on ahead and take a seat and I'll have my little helper here bring it right out to you."

"How much do I owe you?" The man went to reach for his wallet, but Jackie waved a hand in front of her face dismissively.

"Don't worry about it. You know it's always free for you. Now go and sit already!" The man chuckled to himself as he shook his head.

"How do you even stay open?" Gabriel called to the owner as he watched the old Chinese man take a seat.

"I serve more than just friends you know," Jackie sniffed.

"Could have fooled me," the man commented.  
Jackie rolled her eyes as she gestured for Adrien to step down and allow her to scoop the chocolate ice cream into a dish. "You know that I don't charge friends so stop trying to get your way."

The businesses man rolled his eyes before they moved from the owner to his son. He was now carefully making his way over to the old man with his order. Out of the corner of his eye he noticed the elderly man smiling knowingly at his wife. He turned to his wife questioningly and almost missed her exasperated expression. She froze when she saw his inquiring gaze, but laughed dismissively shortly afterwards.

"I just know him from my waitressing days," she said in a placating manner. It seemed as though there was quite a bit more to the story, there certainly was no 'just' to the story, but he did not press. Whatever it was he would wait for privacy before asking about it more. Instead, he turned his eagle eyes to the man and watched him carefully.

Just because he was a friend of Jackie's didn't mean that he trusted the man.

"Thank you," The Fu said in a quiet tone as he accepted the small dish. "Though you do look a bit young to work here." Adrien, for once oblivious to his father's displeasure, giggled as he took a step back.

"I don't work here, mister! I'm just helping."

"Well then, Jackie should certainly hire you when you're older." Adrien's eyes widened comically at the compliment.

"Really?" the man nodded with a kind smile. The young boy turned to Jackie immediately, eyes large and pleading. He enjoyed posing for pictures, but it was always so much fun to work with Jackie. He didn't quite understand what a job really was, but if it was anything like this then he certainly wouldn't mind doing it in the future.

"That'll be up to your parents," Jackie said with a laugh. "But, if they say yes, and you're still interested, then I'll certainly consider it." Adrien rushed over to his parents, his customer forgotten, and immediately turned the full force of his pleading gaze on them. Both of which had drastically different reactions. Elianna smiled, greatly amused. Her husband, on the other hand, turned an annoyed eye to the owner.

He could hear his wife gently attempting to explain to her son that they would talk about it more later. He didn't know why she preferred to lie to the boy. They had both agreed that Adrien would not be working a job such as this if they could help it. Because, though Jackie was a friend of theirs, and his mother had worked here when she was younger, they wanted to provide for Adrien enough that it would never be necessary.

"Okay! Thank you, Maman!" Adrien cried out with a small smile, not quite understanding what 'later' meant. He turned from his parents as the bell went off again as more customers entered.

Gabriel ground his teeth, but did not lash out. He could see the bright and hopeful look in his son's eyes as he helped Jackie out behind the counter. It annoyed him how both women were getting his son's hopes up for no reason. It would be so much kinder to the boy if he were told the truth and not allowed to have his hopes crushed later when the fantasy dispersed.

He hated getting his son's hopes up.

"Let him have his fun," Elianna said quietly as Adrien carefully placed a scoop of vanilla ice cream on a cone. "Besides the odds of him still wanting to do something like this in the future are very slim. We'll help him understand how important it is to have a good job when he's older, but for now it's best to let him dream as big as he can."

"I suppose," Gabriel responded as he looked down at his watch. He had not expected to stay at the shop for very long. He had made reservations at one of Elianna's favorite Italian restaurants as well as obtained tickets to a show that she had been wanting to see for a while. "We'll need to leave shortly."

"Oh we will?" Elianna gave him a coy smile. "And why would that be?"

"You'll find out soon enough," he said with a smirk as he turned his attention to where the final customer had retrieved their treat from his son. "Adrien? We need to leave soon." He watched as his son deflated before his eyes as he stepped off of the stool and began to take off his apron. It was obvious that he was struggling with the knot that Jackie had tied.

"Can you help me, Jackie?" Adrien asked as he turned his back to the shopkeeper. She immediately helped to untie the apron and carefully put it back on the rack. The bell rang again and a large group of teenagers noisily entered the shop. He turned to her worriedly. "Are you going to be able to handle it?"

Jackie smiled as she gently patted his head. "Don't worry about me. I'm a pro at this by now. You go on ahead and I'll see you some other time, alright?" Adrien nodded before rushing past the line of teens and over to his parents.

"Are you ready to go, sweetie?" Elianna asked as she stood from the booth to greet her son. He nodded and watched as his father stood as well. Gabriel looked at the busy counter and leaned over the table again, as if he were grabbing a napkin from the dispenser and slid a few bills under the device before taking a napkin in his hand and needlessly wiping them. He turned, righted his suit and then turned in the direction of the entrance.

Elianna took Adrien's hand before turning to where Jackie stood behind the counter. "See you again sometime soon!"

"Have a good day! And don't forget to come by more often!" The shopkeeper gave Gabriel a pointed look before returning to her current customer. She missed the roll of his eyes.

Gabriel opened the door for the two of them right as Adrien turned around. "Bye, Jackie!" She waved as he turned with his mother and headed through the door.

"There better not be money on that booth, Agreste," Jackie said pointedly as she began ringing up the third teen's order.

"You really should focus on your current customers, Jacqueline. Have a good day." He didn't look back as he allowed the door to shut on whatever would have been her reply.

"Papa?" Adrien asked from where he stood beside his mother, holding her hand, "Why did you hide money at the table?"

"I merely left a tip," he said with a smirk as he allowed the chauffeur open the door for the three of them.

"What's a tip? Adrien whispered to his mother as she buckled him into the seat.

"A tip is a small amount of money that you leave for a server," his mother explained as the car pulled away from the curb and merged into traffic.

"You usually leave a little for an okay server, a bit for a good server, and then a whole lot for a really good server."

"Jackie's a really good server. How much did Papa leave?"

Elianna sighed as she looked at her husband's self-satisfied face before responding.

"Far too much."

* * *

Thank you so much for reading! I hope you enjoyed this chapter as much as I did! There isn't going to be a pattern _per se_ to when chapters like this show up, but expect them to be interspersed with the other chapters. I've got quite the picture to weave for you guys and quite a bit more than what meets the eyes…

Also please let me know what you think of this chapter! I had some issues with formatting that I hope I overcame and that it became apparent pretty soon in that we were no longer in the present storyline. I

Anyways, thanks yet again and review to let me know what you thought!


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